CHICAGO — It's like the Olympics of birding, only four times longer.
Chicago is celebrating 100 years of protecting birds with a host of bird-related activities that kick off Friday morning at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Led by the National Audubon Society, the effort will feature eight weeks of bird events, including bird hikes, stewardship days, bird festivals and other bird-themed meetings. For a full list of events, click here.
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The events are in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Aug. 16, 1916, signing of the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds. Two years later, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which protects migratory birds, their eggs and nests, was signed.
Hundreds of species of birds migrate through Chicago in the middle of the night during the migration seasons of mid-August to mid-November in the fall, and mid-March to mid-June in the spring.
Officials from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Lincoln Park Zoo, Forest Preserves District of Cook County and Audubon Great Lakes will be on hand at 9 a.m. Friday at the zoo's Nature Boardwalk Peoples Gas Education Pavilion, 2001 N. Clark St.
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